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I’m Nigerian. Like many Nigerians, I grew up in a very religious background. As others (who have lived in Nigeria) will confirm, it’s a very religiously diverse nation. We’re very intense in our beliefs. We pray to our deity, and continuously hope to be kept safe. Most times, we have what I call “drive through” order for those in which we believe. We rely on them to protect us, protect our families, grant us our daily bread…in fact to make us overnight trillionaires and those we consider our “enemies”, poor.

However, many of us have not studied the origins of these religions. We follow what sounds convenient, we don’t question our spiritual leaders, we actually treat them like demi-gods. Curiosity and search for actual truth is sometimes met with retribution. Those who find a “contradiction” somewhere, are considered as evil. Those who have attended college and taken classes such as philosophy, geography and so on, which challenge our beliefs system, did almost everything in our power to avoid such classes. It made us cringe. Too scared to awaken our curiosity. Doubt is answered with fear. Logic is discouraged.

What exactly are you scared of? Modern day religion is very far from what is described in our various texts. We only practice our “faiths” in times of convenience and or dire need. We still do and feel hateful things towards people, we steal from family, stab close friends in the back, and are two-faced-backstabbing A-holes… Okay! I’m just really curious here.

Look, if you aren’t following (whole heartedly) what your religion teaches, why start? Why pretend? Why waste precious time and countless lives? Yes, countless lives. Are people not being killed today in Nigeria because of these religious disagreements? Scratch your head with me for a second. I want to understand your thought process. If your deity can allow you to pretend to follow, what does that say? If it looks bad, why do you pretend? Do you really believe, or are you just following a habit that has been instilled in you because of fear? Will you hate me for asking these questions?

The Christian man believes he knows the only way. The Jewish man believes he is one of the chosen ones. The Muslim man believes everyone else (who’s not Muslim) is an infidel. Orisha worshipers believe in their deity (until someone else comes from another continent with their own decorated story). The Buddhist believes he’s found the light. All these various religions and it’s followers will provide you with “substantial evidence” that their faith has changed their lives in extraordinary ways. What makes yours special? Have you died, seen, and come back (with evidence) to show us what really is true? These are thoughts that have secretly run through your head too. Be honest.

Where am I going with this? I have studied, very intensely, the religion I was brought up in. It’s origin, the surrounding religions of it’s time, and the similarities between religions of those ages. I’ve watched it destroy people’s psyche, and I’ve watched it build others’ up. The deeper I delved, the more similarities I found. The story of how, China’s greatest teacher, Confucius’ father was concieved, has a very similar tone to what one very well known religion tells us of how it’s deity was also conceived (although the Confucius story is around 500 B.C.). The story of the poems written by Pharaoh Akhenaten (husband of queen Nefertiti) to his sun god, sounds very similar to “songs” written in a very well known text. And Akhenaten’s poemms were written many many years before these “songs” were written. Many of these religions stem from the same golden age stories; many of them want one thing. To make the world a better place. Not much difference at all. With texts written with human hands, we justify killing our neighbours. Heck, we torture ourselves and endure suffering. Pause for one second…if you really have respect for your deity, you owe it to them to be honest with yourself.

Learn to accept people for what they believe in and who they actually are. Follow, if you may, but follow with your eyes open. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Just know that anything that sounds forced and fearful may have a red flag. Why are we threatened with suffering if we choose otherwise? With how religious Nigeria is, where’s the change? Humans will always be humans. Religion or not. But please stop, stop, stop judging others. Let people follow what they have chosen. And you, allow what you have chosen change you for the better.

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I have been thinking the same thing too. All these religions in this world are nothing but nuisances to me. Everything about it seems forced. The other day I was wondering, if God created us and has given us the free will to live then why must he want us to serve him daily. Isn't that slavery? Why must we spend so much time praying to God and we can't even attain peace in our society? The same preachers are the ones that condone the evil doers in politics and prey on the common people for profit. Can you imagine, what has Pastor Adeboye done for Nigeria in terms of politics? Absolutely nothing. And yet, the average Nigerian live on less than $2/day. Religion is nothing more than a following. A following towards insanity.

Abeg help us ask O! It's so sad how naive us Africans can be. We had our own belief and then we turn around and allow the oyibo wey kidnap and rape our women to tell us say na their god be real. Imagine that thought process. How your god good but he allow you treat other humans like shit for almost a thousand years? Dem do well!

When you look at how people have been dying because of religion, you really see that it is a following towards insanity, like you mentioned.

Imagine how much we've lost our minds to think if we kill ourselves, we'll end up with 72 virgins! Who wants one virgin, not to talk of 72? Unless a pedophile!

And then, it's so convenient that it's a woman that took the so-called apple from a talking snake, resulting in the all the bad things that happen in life? BULL! And then a virgin teenager gets impregnated by some ghost! Sure! Are we that dumb?

Hmm, where do I start? I've been called names for questioning the religion my parents brought me up in. I'm no saint, and I don't think I'm a bad person either. I just seem to think differently than my peers and people around me. It makes me different. I love being different.

In any case, the sooner we are tolerant of each other's different opinions, the better. I do not subscribe to the right of ANY religion to take my life or that of anyone/anything I hold dear. As long as whatever you do lets us coexist peacefully, I'm game.

Great article, I enjoyed reading it. As for the above commenter, I've said the same thing in one of my several exchanges with folks. The free will God has granted us is not "free" after all. It comes with consequences. The consequence being it has to be "free" according to his dictates.

Ho hum, me I tire. I try to exercise my free will while watching my back

You know, I've thought the same thing. Christians will tell you that Jesus died for their sins and they don't have to be perfect. Well, is there "hell fire" if they sin then? It's like a funny game. Like a sales man who tells you you don't have to pay to start a business, only for you to start and then find out that you have to buy goods for a certain amount first to actually start. STORY, STORY….STORY!

This is what I call writing, I have been called names for such writings too one of them will be posted soon by jaguda. Good work I know and have studied lots of things that can mess peoples fate up but they are just too plain scared to question their religious beliefs. Every one wants their relion to be superior and yet forget that others exist. Aba boy in NewYork

Oyibo people wey start all the story, you no see say them sef don leave am? Them no believe anymore. The story is old! Small time dem go say na spirit write the book. Ok, let me see…na spirit print am, come distribute am, come charge you money to buy am?

If the heaven n hell was not created, there will be no earth between them. God created n put all things in place 4 us, how stupid must we b to think wicked of our various Religion? To the fact that every aspect of humanity is depreciating in quality does not give any one the right to say rubbish about any religion.

THINGS FALL APART! Yes, its still falling apart. They pop culture is what they want it to be (they want it to b everything we think, n dy are succeeding. Pop speaks nothing moral to humanity) use ur brains and think about it. Abeg, tell me what is moral about the way of living without our religion. DON’T LET YOUR THINKING FOOL U, DON’T LET THEM FOOL U. Dia is Good n Evil, use ur freedom n choose 4 urself a side to fall to when it all come’s down.

Here we go again. Fear mongering; that's all religion brings. No one is talking about not having moral beliefs, it's the reason for laws in the land. Everyone knows the golden rule. You say "they" have made pop culture what "they" want it to be. Well, my friend, "they" have also made religion what "they" want it to be. In your subconscious, you think of Jesus or God as a white man (more like Zeus). "They" have brain washed you to fear your own judgement.

Using all caps to grab our attention and instill fear is not convincing enough. Just because fear and hooping and hollering and yelling or even screaming the name of your God brings you to submission, does not mean it works for those of us that are smart enough see past that intimidation.

Abeg Woman, leave her alone. She is right and always right, everybody else that doesn't agree with her is wrong and stupid. Nobody will be intimidated by the claim of hell. The is earth is hell enough, may be the actually hell might actually be an enjoyment. If that's the case, I can't wait for it. As for me, all these bible clutching Christians cannot scare me. I believe in reasoning and logic.

Has anyone heard about "The Grail Message"??? This is NOT about religion, it rather bounds all the so called religions together. It explains creation and all the laws guiding creation which is so universal. These laws do not point to certain religion but to ALL MANKIND. One Law explains Reciprocal Action that we all shall reap only what we have sown, can you imagine if everyone is aware that whatever we do comes back to us with interest. Won't we all be careful to be bad and rather do good so that we could reap good??? Another is the Law of Attraction that makes us find ourselves where we belong, that it is not for nothing that we find ourselves in certain environment and that if we do not belong we shall be so uncomfortable till we leave the environment…. and the last Law is about Gravity that is at the end of it all we either ascend, sink or float according to how consciously we lived doing good things or our awareness of living according to the Will of our Creator. Loving our neighbors as ourselves, making our prayers simple by giving thanks for each new day and making sure that we are aware of the ten commandments and not breaking them as these commandments are meant for ALL mankind NOT certain religions……